蛋白质变性机理与变性时的热力学参数研究进展

生物大分子是近年来生命科学的研究热点和难点之一,而对蛋白质变性的研究有助于深刻揭示生命现象的机理.利用光谱学和热力学可以分别从微观和宏观角度对蛋白质变性进行研究,并由此得到表征蛋白质变性的热力学参数.这对深入了解蛋白质的折叠与伸展、变性机理、结构稳定性及生命体的新陈代谢等问题具有很大意义.近年来,国内外学者在此方面做了大量的工作,主要涉及蛋白质在水溶液中的变性机理、在有变性剂存在下水溶液中的变性机理及在含有其它物质水溶液中的变性机理.用来表征蛋白质变性的热力学参数有热容、变性自由能、变性焓和变性熵等.本文对这些研究进行了概述.     

Ionic limiting molar conductivity calculation of Li-ion battery electrolyte based on mode coupling theory

A method is proposed based on mode coupling theory in which the ion transference number is introduced into the theory. The ionic limiting molar conductivities of LiPF6, LiClO4, LiBF4, LiCF3SO3, Li(CF3SO3)2N, LiC4F9SO3, and LiAsF6 in PC(propylene carbonate), GBL(gamma-butyrolactone), PC(propylene carbonate)/EMC(ethylmethyl carbonate), and PC(propylene carbonate)/DME(dimethoxyethane) are calculated based on this method, which does not involve any adjustable parameter. The results fit well to the literature data which are calculated by an empirically adjusted formula. This presents a potential way to calculate the conductivities of Li-ion battery electrolytes.     

Study on the formation of the ketonic defects in the thermal degradation of ladder-type poly(p-phenylenes) by vibrational spectroscopy

We have investigated the thermal degradation in air by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of a ladder-type copolymer containing fluorene units in the backbone (Me-LPF), to reveal the formation of the ketonic defects. As thermal treatment of Me-LPF film at 200 degrees C in air proceeds, a new group of complex absorption bands due to degradation products arises in the range between 1800 and 1600 cm(-1). The observed overlapping bands were separated and assigned by utilizing the second-derivative IR spectral analysis, which can narrow the peak width to one-third of the originals and thereby eases the analysis. The degraded products were assigned as fluorenone (1718 cm(-1)) and benzophenone (Ar-(C=O)-Ar) (1665 cm(-1)), formed by the oxidation of the backbone, and acylphenone (Ar-(C=O)-R) (1685 cm(-1)) from the side chain. The fluorenone was found to be the major component among the degraded products in the main chain, and the time and temperature dependence indicated that the oxidation is a kind of autocatalytic radical-chain process. The oxidation can reach a very high degree (approximately 30% for 6 h oxidation at 240 degrees C estimated by absorption of the alkyl). Our results suggest the possibility of the oxidation of the 9-bialkylfluorene sites. We propose that the degradation of the alkyl in the side chain can help the radicals to propagate in the chain reaction.     

X-ray diffraction and solid-state NMR studies of a germanium binuclear complex

A compound formulated as (C4H12N2)[Ge2(pmida)2(OH)2] x 4 H2O (where pmida(4-) = N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetate and C4H12N2(2+) = piperazinedium cation), containing the anionic [Ge2(pmida)2(OH)2]2- complex, has been synthesised by the hydrothermal approach and its structure determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Several high-resolution solid-state magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR techniques, in particular two-dimensional 1H-X(13C,31P) heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) and 1H-1H homonuclear correlation (HOMCOR) experiments incorporating a frequency-switched Lee-Goldburg (FS-LG) decoupling scheme, have been employed for the first time in such a material. Using these tools in tandem affords an excellent general approach to study the structure of other inorganic-organic hybrids. We assigned the NMR resonances with the help of C...H and P...H internuclear distances obtained through systematic statistical analyses of the crystallographic data. The compound was further characterised by powder X-ray diffraction techniques, IR and Raman spectroscopy, and by elemental and thermal analyses (thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry).     

Correlated atomic force microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging of live bacterial cells

We report on imaging living bacterial cells by using a correlated tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) and confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). For optimal imaging of Gram-negative Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 cells, we explored different methods of bacterial sample preparation, such as spreading the cells on poly-L-lysine coated surfaces or agarose gel coated surfaces. We have found that the agarose gel containing 99% ammonium acetate buffer can provide sufficient local aqueous environment for single bacterial cells. Furthermore, the cell surface topography can be characterized by tapping-mode in-air AFM imaging for the single bacterial cells that are partially embedded. Using in-air rather than under-water AFM imaging of the living cells significantly enhanced the contrast and signal-to-noise ratio of the AFM images. Near-field AFM-tip-enhanced fluorescence lifetime imaging (AFM-FLIM) holds high promise on obtaining fluorescence images beyond optical diffraction limited spatial resolution. We have previously demonstrated near-field AFM-FLIM imaging of polymer beads beyond diffraction limited spatial resolution. Here, as the first step of applying AFM-FLIM on imaging bacterial living cells, we demonstrated a correlated and consecutive AFM topographic imaging, fluorescence intensity imaging, and FLIM imaging of living bacterial cells to characterize cell polarity.     

Maximum spectrum of continuous wavelet transform and its application in resolving an overlapped signal

To estimate the number of peaks and to find the individual peak positions in an overlapped signal, a new method called maximum spectrum of continuous wavelet transform (MSCWT) was developed by extracting the maximum coefficients of continuous wavelet transform (CWT). The peak position in MSCWT was the same as that in its original signal. In this process, CWT was performed not on a single dilation but on an appreciation dilation range. To obtain such a range, a new criterion was introduced to choose a center dilation, which was used to form the dilation range. If Cdilation denoted the center dilation, the proper dilation range was [Cdilation -6 +/- 2, Cdilation +1 +/- 1]. The Mexican Hat function was an analytical wavelet. Utilizing the information of the peak number and the position detected by MSCWT, a fitting route was performed to recover the original signal. One simulated and four true overlapped signals, including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultraviolet-visible (UV) spectrum, and differential pulse voltammetric (DPV), were processed, and the results indicated that MSCWT could detect an overlapped peak number and position, and the curve fitting based on information of MSCWT had a higher accuracy. The proposed method was an efficient one in resolving different types of overlapped signals.     

Asymmetric catalysis with CO2: direct synthesis of optically active propylene carbonate from racemic epoxides

This communication describes a convenient route to optically active propylene carbonate by a catalytic kinetic resolution process resulting from the coupling reaction of CO2 and racemic epoxides using simple chiral SalenCo(III)/quaternary ammonium halide catalyst systems.